Clarity Connect integration
Lotus Notes SAP Integration
Lotus Notes is now HCL Notes, running on HCL Domino. Connect its workflow applications to SAP so approved requests reach SAP and SAP data shows up in Notes.
What moves between HCL Notes and SAP
Notes isn't a store or an ERP. In companies that still run it, Notes and Domino usually host in-house workflow applications: purchase requests, approvals, customer files, quality records. Integration with SAP means two things: documents approved in Notes create the matching record in SAP, and SAP master data such as customers, vendors and materials is looked up from Notes instead of being copied by hand.
HCL Notes / Domino
Where requests are raised and approved
- Request and approval documents
- Lookup views
- Status fields
SAP S/4HANA or ECC
Where the business record is kept
- Purchase requisitions or sales orders
- Customer, vendor and material master data
- Document status
Notes to SAP record mapping
Plain descriptions: what a Notes application holds is specific to that application, and discovery names the real forms and fields.
| HCL Notes / Domino | SAP | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Approved purchase request | Purchase requisition | Notes to SAP |
| Approved order form | Sales order | Notes to SAP |
| Customer or vendor lookup view | Customer, vendor or business partner master | SAP to Notes |
| Product lookup view | Material master | SAP to Notes |
| Status field on the request | SAP document number and status | SAP to Notes |
How the Notes connection works
Reading Domino through its REST API
HCL's Domino REST API gives secure REST access to Domino servers and databases, and runs on Domino and Notes for Windows, Linux and Mac. Connect uses it to pick up documents that have reached an approved state and to write SAP's reply, such as a document number or status, back onto the Notes document.
SAP data inside Notes applications
Instead of keeping its own copy of customers or materials, a Notes application can be fed from SAP on a schedule, so drop-downs and lookups match the ERP. Changes stay one-way, from SAP to Notes, which keeps SAP the single source.
If the Notes application will move later
When a Notes application is due to move to another platform, connecting it to SAP through Connect, rather than through code inside the Notes database, means the SAP half of the flow doesn't need rebuilding when the application moves.
See Clarity Connect move an order
Watch an online order travel into the ERP and its status come back in our Clarity Connect demo, or book a live walkthrough on your own systems.
HCL's own SAP connector, and its limits
Lotus Notes and Domino are now HCL products; HCL's documentation lists Domino 14.5.1 as the current release. HCL also sells the Domino Connector for SAP Solutions (2.0.3), an add-on that calls RFC-enabled functions and BAPIs in SAP ECC, working with HCL Enterprise Integrator. Its documentation is written for ECC 6 and doesn't mention S/4HANA.
If your SAP is S/4HANA, or the integration has to outlive Notes, a connection run outside Domino is the safer design. If you're on ECC, remember that SAP's mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 ends at the end of 2027.
How Clarity Connect runs it
Clarity Connect is Clarity's integration platform. It connects applications whatever their format, database, files, web services or APIs, and runs each flow as a task on its own timing. Here it sits between Domino and SAP inside your network, so neither system is opened to the internet. Clarity has built more than 3,000 integrations; demos are on our YouTube playlist.
Discovery
A Clarity business analyst documents the data fields and workflows each system can share and which ones you need.
Tasks and mapping
Each flow becomes a Connect task, such as orders to the ERP or stock to the store, set to run in real time or on a schedule.
Testing
Orders and updates are run end to end, including the return trip of statuses back to the customer-facing system.
Live, with a dashboard
Queues and scheduled tasks show in Connect's Hangfire dashboard. A job whose target is offline is retried 10 times, every 30 minutes, and can be re-queued once the cause is fixed.
Clarity Connect is sold as a SaaS subscription at $599 a month or as a one-time license at $15,000 with no ongoing fees, and larger projects are priced to scope. See pricing.
Questions
Is Lotus Notes still supported?
Notes and Domino are developed and sold by HCL as HCL Notes and HCL Domino; HCL's documentation lists 14.5.1 as the current version.
Can we use HCL's SAP connector instead?
For ECC, possibly: HCL's Domino Connector for SAP Solutions calls RFCs and BAPIs in ECC. It isn't documented for S/4HANA, and it ties the integration to Domino.
Which SAP systems does this cover?
S/4HANA and ECC. Discovery confirms which SAP documents your Notes workflows should create.
Related resources
Connect HCL Notes and SAP
Tell us which Notes applications need SAP data and what they should create in SAP. A Clarity business analyst will document the forms, fields and approvals with you first.
Book a demo